By the end of the war, most of Japan's major cities had been destroyed by U.S. air attacks. Hiroshima was still intact. The reasons Hiroshima was chosen as the target for the A-bombing are assumed to be the following. The size and the shape of the city were suited to the destructive power of the A-bombs. Because Hiroshima had not been bombed, ascertaining the effects of the A-bomb would be relatively easy. Hiroshima had a high concentration of troops, military facilities and military factories that had not yet been subject to significant damage.
In early 1945, the American military began indiscriminate incendiary bombing at night, flying in huge formations, repeatedly attacking numerous targets throughout Japan, including medium and even small cities.
Hiroshima had thus far escaped this kind of air attack, but to halt the spread of fires and create open areas for refuge in the case of large-scale air attacks, wooden houses were demolished, and air-raid shelters were built for individual homes and for each neighborhood association. Fire-prevention and evacuation drills took place regularly.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http:// (www.hiroshima-spirit.jp/en/museum/morgue_e12.html, 2010)
HIROSHIMA BOMBING
By the end of the war, most of Japan's major cities had been destroyed by U.S. air attacks. Hiroshima was still intact. The reasons Hiroshima was chosen as the target for the A-bombing are assumed to be the following.
The size and the shape of the city were suited to the destructive power of the A-bombs. Because Hiroshima had not been bombed, ascertaining the effects of the A-bomb would be relatively easy. Hiroshima had a high concentration of troops, military facilities and military factories that had not yet been subject to significant damage.
In early 1945, the American military began indiscriminate incendiary bombing at night, flying in huge formations, repeatedly attacking numerous targets throughout Japan, including medium and even small cities.
Hiroshima had thus far escaped this kind of air attack, but to halt the spread of fires and create open areas for refuge in the case of large-scale air attacks, wooden houses were demolished, and air-raid shelters were built for individual homes and for each neighborhood association. Fire-prevention and evacuation drills took place regularly.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http:// (www.hiroshima-spirit.jp/en/museum/morgue_e12.html, 2010)